NHS
Describe the types of business, purpose and ownership of two contrasting businesses
The National Health Service (NHS) is an organisation in the Public sector, this means that it is provided and funded by the government through taxes, and it provides a service. It is health care system, provided to anyone regardless of age, race and income; free of charge to prevent diseases and illnesses. It was founded in 1948 with the aims to improve the quality and length of life of local people; to provide better services where they are needed most; and to help people to take more control of their health. Although one of its aims is to provide a service to the local people, the NHS is a national business; it has over 400 hospitals/clinics in the UK but not in any other country, therefore not allowing it to be an international or global organisation. The NHS does not have hospitals in other countries as the service is only provided to people paying taxes in the UK.
Ownership
A Public Limited Company (PLC) is a company which trades its securities on the stock exchange and can be bought and sold by anyone, it also has limited liability which means that the shareholders won’t lose anymore more money than they put into the company; a Private Limited Company (LTD) also sells shares but not on the stock market, in order to get a share in a LTD you will have to be asked to buy one; an LTD also has limited liability. Other types of ownership of business is a sole-trader and a partnership; a sole-trader is owned and run by one person which will have to deal with everything for the business to run properly, one example of a sole-trader is a corner-shop. A partnership is a type of ownership where 2 – 20 people own and run the business, an example of a partnership is a local accountancy firm.
The NHS has not got any of these types of ownership; the NHS is a publicly funded healthcare service